Deep Within The Maggots Nest
by The All Powerful Genie God
Summary: Kurotsuchi wasn't the only one Urahara got out of the maggots nest that day. Finally free of her prison what impressions will she make on the soul society? Sakura-centric, please read and review.
1. Prologue: Death

Deep Within The Maggots Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Prologue: Death

Sakura stared at the man standing opposite of her and glared at him. Why he had come to her after all these years she didn't know. She examined the changes that had taken place. Being over fifty years old he was aged but aged well. Sakura would even go as far as to say he was still very handsome despite his advanced age. He was dressed in simple shinobi clothes and his sword was at his hip.

Sakura herself had few changes, she didn't look a day over seventeen years old. Sakura had done what nobody before her had been able to do, gain immortality. Well not really immortality, she just didn't age due to a seal she created to stop the aging process. Sasuke didn't seem surprised to see her looking so young so he must have heard the rumors. Sakura had left the leaf village many years ago after Naruto died in the war. She lives forever as a self punishment that she couldn't save him, that she wasn't there in time.

"Sasuke" Sakura finally said and Sasuke nodded as if confirming that fact.

"Sakura" he replied stepping forward a bit. Sakura sighed.

"Why are you here Sasuke?" She asked tiredly, seeing him brought back to many memories. Sakura cursed herself when she realized tears were gathering in her eyes. She always hated the fact she cried so easily. Sasuke didn't answer and instead walked towards her stopping once right in front of her. Sakura looked down at the ground not wanting to look into his eyes but Sasuke's hand came to her cheek and pulled her head up to look at him. Sakura stared into his dark eyes and realized why he didn't seem surprised to see her so young, he was blind. Sakura's eyes widened and her hand twitched. "Sasuke..."

"Sakura, I want you to kill me." He spoke softly and Sakura's eyes widened further. She had thought he would have wanted her to heal his eyes.

"Sasuke..." She whispered "no" she spoke firmly and Sasuke's hand pulled away from her cheek to grab her biceps tightly.

"Yes Sakura, I want to die and I want you to be the one to kill me." Tears escaped her eyes and she shook her head not remembering that he couldn't see it. "I want to be with my family, with Itachi, with Naruto" and sob broke through as he said his name. "Please Sakura."

"Sasuke I couldn't live with myself if I killed you!" She yelled and he flinched back before hesitantly speaking.

"Then why don't you go with me?" Sakura froze, was he asking what she thought he was asking. "Then we would all be together. Team seven." More tears poured from her eyes.

"No Sasuke... I" she couldn't speak. Sakura couldn't stop thinking about how painful it was everyday waking up to realize she was alive and Naruto isn't. Maybe it was her time. "I don't know Sasuke." She cried and Sasuke pulled her in for a hug. Sakura froze again not expecting to be hugged but gave up and buried her face in his chest, crying. A minute later Sakura pulled away and closed her eyes. "Ok Sasuke" she said quietly but she knew he heard it. "I'll kill you" another sob broke through and her voice cracked. Silently she pulled out a kunai and held it over his heart. Just when she started to push it in Sasuke spoke.

"Sakura... Thank you" her eyes widened at the familiar words and even more tears came but she held them back. Sakura looked into his eyes one last time before she plunged the kunai into his chest. Sasuke screamed in pain and Sakura caught him as he fell, crying hysterically. She didn't even notice Sasuke move until she looked down and realized Sasuke had stabbed her through the chest too.

"Sasuke what have you done?" She said as she fell next to him. At first he said nothing just grabbed her hand tightly.

"Now you won't feel so guilty" he whispered. "Now we'll all be together again." Sakura looked at him and knew she had forgiven him.

"You've always been selfish Sasuke." She said before closing her eyes. Her last coherent though was 'I don't deserve to be with everyone. Because I let Naruto die... I'm so sorry...'


	2. Chapter 1: Free At Last

Deep Within The Maggots Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Chapter 1: Free At Last

The first thing Sakura realized as she came into consciousness was that she was still there in her room deep with in the prison she now called home. She was blindfolded but she still heard the unlocking of her door clearly. She didn't move from her chair, she couldn't, not with the seals wrapped around her body tying her to the chair. She had been asleep so she had no idea how long it had been since someone last visited her, it could have been a hundred years and she wouldn't know the difference. Sakura had figured out early on how her room worked. The door acted as a catalyst, when it was closed she slept, when it was open she woke. She lifted her head as she heard the door open and three people walked in. One came to stand a little in front of her while the others hung back.

"Sakura-san" one said and Sakura immediately recognized the voice. Urahara Kisuke had been her only visitor for a long time.

"Urahara-san" Sakura spoke in a raspy voice. "And friends" she said glancing over at where she heard the other two people in her room.

"I have a proposition for you Sakura-san." He said and Sakura tilted her head. "How would you like to leave this place with me?" For a second Sakura stayed still, surprised, before she threw her head back and laughed. It took her a minute to calm down before she spoke again.

"I-haha- never thought I'd ever hear that!" She laughed before she sobered. "Why are you offering me this Urahara."

"Because I believe you talents could be better used else where." He said. "How about a show of good faith?" She heard him come closer before he took off her blindfold. Sakura waited a second before she opened her eyes and as soon as she did she flinched and closed them again. She opened them again, feeling better now, and looked around her room for the first time. It was a small room and she sat in the middle of it with ropes of seals coming off the walls to wrap around her. The thing she was most interested in though was her hair. It covered the floor like a dirty pink carpet, her guests were even stepping in it, and Sakura estimated by the length of her hair that she must have been down here for at least seven hundred years.

Looking up at Urahara she took in his appearance. He had blond hair that was messy and fell into his face. He wore what she vaguely remembered as the shinigami uniform with a white haori over it. There was a smile on his face but his grey eyes watched her carefully.

The next person in her room was a small blond girl with brown eyes. She had her arms crossed with a look of apprehension on her face, she was obviously wary of Sakura as she should be. The girl wore the same uniform as Urahara but without the haori.

The last person in her room was standing by the door and he was very hard to describe. His skin was as white as bone and she couldn't tell if it was natural or makeup. His eyes were gold and he looked at her like he was about to dissect her. She assumed he was another prisoner as they were dressed in the same thing but she decided not to comment. Sakura looked back up at Urahara.

"How do you know that once I'm free I won't just kill everyone in sight?" She asked staring him in the eye. "I could you know." Urahara just smiled.

"You wouldn't do that." he told her "because then you would be put right back here. But is that a yes?" He asked and Sakura hesitantly nodded.

"Yes, if it means I'll never have to come back to this place." Urahara smiled at her but then the little girl interrupted.

"Wait just a second what the hell are you thinking letting two dangerous people out of here! Who knows what could happen!" Urahara looked at her

"Don't worry they haven't done anything yet." He said and turned back to Sakura.

"That doesn't mean anything!" The little girl yelled but was ignored so she just crossed her arms and looked the other way. Urahara stepped forward and one by one unwrapped the seals from around her body. It took a minute or two before all the seals were off but soon Sakura felt her chakra come back into her control. 'Or maybe not' she thought as it went out of control causing the little girl to take shallow breaths. Sakura quickly tried to regain control of her chakra but it took a little while but once she did she apologized.

"I'm sorry, it seems my control has slipped over the years." She smiled slightly at the three while Urahara went to work taking the shackles off her arms and legs. Once free Urahara stepped back and Sakura hesitantly stood only to collapse under he weight. Urahara caught her and set her back on her feet and Sakura wasted no time trying again. When she could finally stand without help she straightened and looked up at Urahara. "Are we ready to go? I want to be rid of this place." Urahara nodded and gestured to the door. The four started to walk out of the room with Sakura coming up last. Sakura paused when they got just outside the door and looked behind her at the mass of hair that followed her. "Wait a minute please." She said before lifted her hand and making a chakra scalpel, causing all three of her companions to tense, and quickly slashed downward to cut off her hair at her knees. Sakura looked behind her and decided she would fix her hair later, right now she just wanted to leave this place.

When they saw Sakura wasn't going to attack them they relaxed a bit and kept walking. This was Sakura's first time seeing the prison outside her room. They walked through a common area where Sakura saw some of the prisoners flinch back for them and she wondered what had happened to make them so scared. Walking out side for the first time in hundreds of years was surreal for Sakura. She looked over at her side to her fellow former prisoner to see if he felt the same but he seemed bored. Sakura took a deep breath in as she followed behind Urahara and the little girl, who name she didn't know. Sakura sped up to walk with them.

"Urahara-san will you introduce me to your companions?" Sakura asked. Urahara looked down at her and smile.

"This is Kurotsuchi Mayuri and this is my lieutenant, Sarugaki Hiyori." Sakura looked at him in surprise but smiled.

"Moving up in the world, are you?" She said amused before turning to look at the other two. "I am Haruno Sakura, it's nice to meet you Sarugaki-san, Kurotsuchi-san" Sakura said and Hiyori looked at her oddly.

"Why were you put down there?" Hiyori asked rudely, frowning up at the pink haired woman. Sakura frowned a bit at her attitude but she understood somewhat.

"I was branded a threat to the soul society shortly after I died because of the amount of chak- I mean reiatsu I had and the fact that I remember my life before death." Hiyori looked up at her thinking.

"What makes that so dangerous?" She wondered.

"Let's just say my world is very different from you human world. I wanted to find more people like me but they decided that that would spell trouble for them so I was locked up." Sakura shrugged as if it was no big deal but inside she was seething. All she wanted was to not be alone, just like Sasuke. She just wanted to be with Naruto again but they wouldn't let her. Sakura shook her head, thinking like that would just get her thrown back into her room.

The four of them finally made it out of the second division and headed towards twelfth. Sakura was uncomfortable as some people stared to her and Kurotsuchi but learned to ignore it. She did see Hiyori getting more and more irritated though and Sakura was sure she was about to snap.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YA STARING AT!" She screamed and Sakura laughed softly as people quickly vacated the halls. Sakura decided that this wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would.

Well here's my first attempt at a crossover I hope it's not completely terrible. If Sakura or anyone seems out of character sorry, but please tell me. I'm always looking to improve. Please review and if you have any ideas for the story that would be great to know too. I am in desperate need of ideas. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 2: The Summons

Deep Within The Maggots Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach

Chapter 2: The Summons

Sakura lied back on the futon in her new room in the twelfth division barracks. She had just gotten back from taking a bath and Sakura could easily say she felt much better after her first bath in hundreds of year. Her whole body was still sore from being imprisoned in her room for so long but she was using her chakara to soothe her muscles. Her control was still a bit off but she hoped that if she kept using her chakara to do little things that the control would come back to her. Sakura sighed and sat up looking around her room. It was very simple, the only furniture besides the futon was a desk and a chair but Sakura found she liked it. At least it wasn't that horrid room in the prison. Sakura stood up and walked over to where a small mirror hung on one wall. She grabbed a piece of her hair, playing with it before making another chakra scalpel and started to cut her bangs. Once it was too her liking she let the chakra flicker away and she sighed at how hard it was to even maintain a small chakra scalpel before heading to the door.

Sakura walked out into the hallway avoiding eye contact with other division members and made her way through the halls going nowhere really. She walked around for at least ten minutes before she finally admitted she was lost. She had ended up in what looked like a training area but the only people there were cleaning or lounging around. Sakura decided against asking one of them for directions and instead went on her way.

People stared as she walked by and it bothered her. She thought it must have been her hair that called so much attention to herself. She kept walking ignoring the stares of the division members before someone called her name.

"Ah, Sakura-san!" Urahara called from down the hall where he stood with Hiyori. He waved her over before his face got a bit serious. "We have a slight problem Sakura-san." Sakura's brow furrowed and she listened carefully. "We've received a summons to a captain meeting and you were asked to come too." Sakura nodded but inside she was freaking out, what did they want with her? "We should go now" They headed out of the twelfth division and made their way towards the first.

"Urahara...-taichou" she added on remembering his new position. "Do you have any idea what this will be about?" Urahara looked over at her.

"Sakura-san you would know more about it than me." Sakura nodded again. As they walked Sakura couldn't help but to notice the odd looks Hiyori shot her every few minutes and she wondered just want it would take to get the girl to warm up to her.

"Is the something you would like to ask me Sarugaki-fukutaichou?" She asked the small girl and said girl glared up at her.

"Why do you know more about this meeting than even a captain?" She asked still glaring. Sakura smiled down at her, her temper reminded her of someone but for the life of her she couldn't remember who. Then Sakura frowned.

"This will probably be about my freedom." She said looking up into the sky. "And maybe about where my loyalties lie." Hiyori stayed silent after that. "One thing is certain though, this meeting will decide whether I can stay free or be locked up again."

They were close to the first division now and the closer they got the more nervous Sakura became. She doesn't want to be locked up again. Sakura didn't know how she would react if they tried to in prison her again, would she fight back or maybe run like last time. Finally they were in front of the giant doors that would lead to where her fate would be decided. Urahara opened the door slowly and the three of them walked in. Urahara and Hiyori went to stand in line with the people Sakura assumed to be the other captains while Sakura continued to walk forward towards an old man who exuded power. The doors closed and all was silent for a moment before the old man spoke.

"Haruno Sakura you are no longer in your cell. Urahara Kisuke do you know what danger you have brought into our midst? State your reasons." He droned in a powerful voice.

"I believe that her knowledge and experience could greatly benefit the soul society." Urahara explained. "All she wants is to never go back to her cell and in exchange she will give us this knowledge, soutaichou." The head captain looked back down at her.

"Is this true Haruno Sakura? Are you willing to pledge your loyalty to the soul society, become a shinigami, and forget what placed you in your prison for twelve hundred years in the first place?" He asked and Sakura's eyes widened at how long she had been imprisoned but then let a short laugh escape.

"It's odd last time I didn't get to say anything in my defense." She mused "you must understand my lifestyle to know my answer. I was a shinobi, one loyal to only one village." Sakura saw a dark skinned woman smile and tilt her head when she said shinobi. "Honestly I'm surprised I'm in the soul society at all" she let out a laugh "all shinobi are are killers even a healer like me." This time a black haired woman looked up.

"Forgive me for interrupting but, a healer, you look so young and you've been in prison all this time you must have been even younger what that happened." Sakura smiled at the gentle looking woman and explained.

"In my world children from the age of seven train to become ninja then at about twelve or thirteen we graduate the academy and become genin then we are place in teams of three under a more experienced shinobi, a jonin. The ranks of shinobi go genin, chunin, jonin, speical jonin, ambu, and then our leader the hokage. I was an special jonin before I left my village to travel as a healer. But that is beside the point, I may look young but I was fifty seven when I died I just looked younger." She explained as all the captains listened.

"Why did you look so young if you were that old?" A long white haired man asked. Sakura scrutinized him for a moment before she answered.

"Many in my world have tried to gain immortality, and I succeeded somewhat. I'll never age unless I choose to." The man nodded and stayed quiet so Sakura started up again. "Where was I, ah, I was a tool used only for the village, my home. What I'm trying to say is that if you let me make the soul society my home I will pledge my loyalty to you and you'll never have to worry about betrayal."

"But you have not said you will forget what placed you in prison in the first place." Yamamoto said. Sakura frowned.

"I'll never forget my first home but I'm not an idiot even if I found someone from my world who's to say they aren't an enemy." She shook her head and frowned sadly. "All my loved ones are gone, I'm the last one" she sad with loneliness that everyone could see in her eyes. "So yes I will forget my silly notion of finding more shinobi" this time anger lit up in her eyes. "I would like to know something though, soutaichou, what happened to my belongings, including my zanpakutos."

Everyone looked down at the angry pink haired woman wondering what was so important to her that she would talk like that to the soutaichou. The head captain frowned deeply but answered all the same.

"I have brought your things here but first I must tell you what central 46 has decided." Sakura closed her eyes and everyone listened closely. "For the time being you may stay free of your prison but the second you prove yourself a threat you will not be given a second chance." Sakura let out a relieved breath and Urahara smiled. "Sasakibe give Haruno-san her things." Another man, Yamamoto's lieutenant, stepped forward towards Sakura carrying what looked like two pouches, one large that looked like it strapped on at the waist and one smaller one that seemed to strap to the thigh.

Sakura's eyes cheered up at the sight of the familiar items and she immediately opened them to make sure everything was in there. When she saw that nothing was missing she looked back up to the soutaichou.

"My zanpakutos?" She asked and he looked over at his lieutenant and nodded. Sasakibe nodded back and pulled both a tanto and a chokuto out of his shinigami uniform. He handed them to Sakura who looked at them with sad reverence. It had been so long since she had last held them. Many of the captains looked on in surprise, she had two zanpakutos, that was rare. Sakura smiled down at the swords before tucked the tanto into her white kimono and left the chokuto in her hand. "Thank you soutaichou." She said genuinely great full. He nodded again.

"Is there anything anybody would like to ask before this meeting comes to an end?" He asked and the gentle looking woman stepped forward. "Unohana-taichou" he acknowledged.

"Forgive me soutaichou but if Haruno-san is as good of a healer as she says she is wouldn't she be more suited for the fourth division?" Unohana said but before the soutaichou could answer another captain stepped up.

"Now wait a moment if she's a ninja shouldn't she be in my squad?" The purple haired woman said smiling slyly at Sakura. Sakura was surprised when the women started fighting over her and decided to interrupt.

"Um, if I may interrupt" Sakura said cutting into their argument. "I would prefer to stay in the twelfth division. I believe I can be of more use there but if you ever need it I would gladly help any of your squads." She said looking around the room at the different captains.

"Yes Haruno-san will be staying in the twelfth division, she is Urahara-taichou's responsibility." Yamamoto said with finality and the women fell silent, accepting that. "If that is all this meeting will come to a close." Everyone nodded and started towards the door. When they all shuffled out of the room Urahara placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"You did we'll in there Sakura-san." He praised smiling down at her. Sakura looked up at him and smiled back wistfully.

"I've met him before you know, the soutaichou" she said "he was one of the shinigami who apprehended me all those years ago, of course he was much younger then. It's amazing to see just how many things have changed."

"Ha your an interesting one" the purple haired captain said walking up to them. "I'm Shihoin Yourichi, just call me Yoruichi" she said smiled at Sakura.

"It's nice to meet you Yoruichi-taichou." Sakura said.

"If you would, I'd like to spar with you some time" Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. "I want to see if your worthy of the title of shinobi" Sakura was wary but accepted all the same.

"If that is what you want, Yoruichi-taichou." Sakura said before another captain and his lieutenant walked up to them. The captain had long straight blond hair while the lieutenant had short brown hair and glasses.

"I hope we're all invited Yoruichi-san" the captain drawled before turning to Sakura. "Hirako Shinji" he said extending his hand towards her. Sakura shook his hand.

"Haruno Sakura" she added though she knew he knew her name. Shinji smiled slyly at her before introducing his lieutenant.

"This is Aizen Sosuke" he told her and Sakura nodded to the man. He nodded back and smiled at her. Then Shinji came around to her side and placed an arm around her shoulder. "Now lets introduce you to everyone else." But before he could say anything more a foot came flying into his face making him fly backwards. He landed on his back before sitting up clutching his nose. "HIYORI! What the hell?!" Said girl didn't say anything just turned he head to the side crossing her arms and ignoring him. Meanwhile Sakura laughed at their antics before walking towards where Shinji still sat. She crouched down in front of him smiling gently.

"I could heal that for you." That got everyone's attention even Urahara's who had heard many times about her healing, he just had never seen it before. Shinji shrugged.

"Sure" he said still gripping his nose. Slowly Sakura moved her hand towards him pulling his own hand away from his face before letting her hand hover over his nose. A jade green glow incased her hand and in a matter of seconds his nose was healed. Sakura pulled away and stood back up extending a hand to help him up. Shinji looked at her oddly before excepting her hand while everyone else watched. Hiyori huffed.

"Dickhead didn't deserve it." She said which made Shinji spin to look at her and make a face. Sakura laughed again before she was approached by yet another captain. Unohana had watched her heal Shinji and could no longer contain her curiosity.

"My name is Unohana Retsu, Haruno-san my I ask how you heal?" Unohana asked politely. Sakura tilted her head.

"I convert reiatsu or chakra as it is called where I am from to a medical form and then use my control to enter someone's body to heal the wound." She answered and Shinji cut in.

"Chakra?" He said and Sakura nodded.

"Chakra is pretty much the same as reiatsu but there are slight differences" she explained "chakra is heavier and more dense, which makes it harder to contain and control. It was why I had to be sealed up so tightly. So far no one I've met in the soul society has chakra like I do." She said making everyone understand the differences. Sakura then looked back up at Shinji. "If the opportunity is still open I would like to be introduced to everyone else." Shinji stopped making faces at Hiyori and looked back at Sakura. He spoke and started to point out everybody. By the time Sakura was acquainted with everyone she realized how tired she was. Urahara noticed and spoke for her.

"We should probably get back to the division, I need to check on Kurotsuchi-san anyways and Sakura-san looks tired." Sakura looked up at him, great full before saying goodbye to all the captains and their lieutenants. She, Urahara, and Hiyori headed back to the twelfth division barracks where they split up, Hiyori going off on her own while Urahara offered to lead Sakura to her room when he saw her looking lost. She and Urahara walked down a few hallways in a companionable silence but soon they were in front of what Sakura recognized as her door. Sakura smiled up at Urahara.

"Thank you Urahara-taichou!" She exclaimed smiling and he blushed lightly, scratching the back of his head.

"It was nothing Sakura-san, sleep well." He said before walking away. Sakura watched him leave wondering why he left so abruptly but shrugged it off and entered her room. Sakura flopped onto her futon and looked down at the hand still holding her larger zanpakuto before she pulled out her smaller one and hugged them both to her chest.

"Goodnight Yumeobito, goodnight Riko-tekina Fukushu-sha."

Well here's the second chapter. Once again I hope everyone was in character. Two questions though, pairings: who do you to be with Sakura? And would you rather have her become a visored or stay in the soul society? I'm leaning towards her staying in the soul society so if you want different please tell me. Thank you so much for reading, please review!


	4. Chapter 3: Before The Spar

Deep Within The Maggots Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Chapter 3: Before The Spar

Sakura had the next few days to settle in. She was still tired and when she woke up the day after her summons, she was even sorer than the day before. But still she had things to do; she needed a few things if she was going to live here. Urahara gave her some money in advance so she could buy what she needed, and was she great full. A shinigami uniform was provided along with a smock that would be worn in the lab Urahara planed on building in the twelfth division. Sakura felt uncomfortable in her shinigami uniform, it was too lose and there was too much extra cloth draped over her body but she figured once she had some more money she could change it a bit. Today she was going to a meeting with Kurotsuchi, Hiyori and Urahara to discuss the soon to be built shinigami research and development institute.

Sakura walked towards Urahara's office where the meeting would take place. There was still a bit of staring but Sakura hoped it would stop after the meeting when Urahara said he would announce his plans to the rest of the division. Once in front of Urahara's office door she took a deep breath and knocked. There was a 'come in' and Sakura entered the room. Sakura looked around the room and her eyes widened at the amount of paperwork was on his desk, it reminded her of the hokage's office. Urahara seemed as carefree as ever and just smiled at her gesturing to one of the two chairs in front of his desk. Sakura sat down and greeted Urahara.

"Good morning Urahara-taichou." She said and he returned the greeting.

"Good morning to you to Sakura-san, I hope you slept well." Sakura nodded.

"I'm still getting used to sleeping laying down but I think that will go away soon." She told him looking down at her hands; her time imprisoned was not something she was proud of. She felt she had been foolish, only after so many years did she realize that it wasn't duty that compelled her to want to look for more shinobi, it was loneliness. Urahara's face pulled its self into a thinking expression.

"Is there anything else that's bothering you?" He asked to get some answers. Sakura nodded hesitantly before she answered.

"My body is still very sore and my stamina is almost completely gone" she confided bit then shook her head and waved her arms in front of her frantically. "But I'm sure that will go away with time! What I'm more worried about is my chakra control!" She said. Urahara's brow furrowed.

"What's wrong with your control?" He asked and she frowned.

"Control used to be the thing I was best at but somehow being under all those seals has weakened it. It used to be as easy as breathing to suppress my chakra but now I have to consciously repress it. It's... Troubling me but hopefully my control will come back to me if I keep using my chakra." She explained absentmindedly as she thought about all the exercises she would have to do to regain her control. Urahara's face lightened.

"I hope it comes back to you Sakura-san." He told her sincerely and before she could thank him there was a knock on the door, probably Hiyori or Kurotsuchi. "Come in" Urahara called and the door opened reveling a bored looking Kurotsuchi and an irritated Hiyori. They walked in, Kurotsuchi sitting in the other chair with Hiyori just stood behind them looking angry.

The meeting went well into the afternoon but it was necessary. There they decided all the things that would need to change about the division to make room for a lab. It was in this meeting that Sakura found that she would be put in charge of the medical research sector of the institute. During the meeting Hiyori did get even angrier and eventually she did explode and punch Urahara in the face. Sakura was impressed with her strength and made a note in her head to ask if Hiyori would train with her. It was mid afternoon when they finally finished everything even the introduction to the rest of the squad. Many of them didn't know what to think, especially of Kurotsuchi, but they all seemed to respect their captain's decision. Soon everyone dispersed and all that was left were the four of them once again. Sakura looked over at her fellow ex-prisoner and spoke.

"I don't think we've really talked before Kurotsuchi-san" she commented. "I look forward to working with you." He looked at her.

"Yes, I suppose" he said, "You are not a normal soul." He stated and she nodded warily. He smiled for the first time since Sakura met him. "What a great experiment you would make." He said and it made Sakura irritated, human experimentation was a foul practice in her eyes. She grit her teeth and glared.

"I'm no experiment, Kurotsuchi-san." She said coldly thinking back to Orochimaru and his human experiments. Kurotsuchi rolled his eyes and walked away without saying anything else. Sakura scowled at the back of the weird looking man before she turned to walk back over to Urahara and Hiyori in a somewhat bad mood. It seemed Urahara had made Hiyori mad again because she jumped up and landed a kick in his face. He clutched his nose but laughed it off which just made Hiyori angrier and then Sakura came up to them. She smiled at them, forgetting her irritation, before lifting her hand to Urahara's face. He watched curiously and his eyes widened when his nose suddenly numbed for a second before feeling came rushing back without the pain from Hiyori's kick.

"So that's what it's like." He mused quietly out loud, wiping the blood from his face before shaking his head and smiling down at Sakura and his lieutenant. His face lit up in remembrance. "Sakura-san, Yoruichi-san contacted me earlier. She wants to take you up on that spar at the second division. She said to show up anytime you could." Sakura looked at him in surprise and nodded firmly while inside she worried how her body would do in a fight, let alone her zanpakutos. It had been so long. Urahara seemed to see her worrying and spoke up. "If you're not up to it I'm sure Yoruichi-san will understand." He told her and Sakura smiled and shook her head.

"It might be good to fight a bit, to see if I even still remember how to." She joked, while on the inside she was serious, before looking at him and Hiyori. "Will you guys be coming?"

"Ha, everyone's talkin' about it." Hiyori said gruffly.

"I think you'll have quite the audience Sakura-san." Urahara laughed. That made Sakura nervous but she tried not to show it. She hoped they weren't expecting that much of her, she had moved more in the past few days than she had in a thousand years. Then Sakura hardened her resolve, she'd at least give them a good show even if she didn't win. She'd show them what shinobi could do.

"Well, would you like to go now? Or do you have something to do?" She said with confidence coming back to her. Urahara scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry Sakura-san, I have to go back to my office for a minute. Why don't you head over to the second division with Hiyori-san, I'll meet you there in a bit." He suggested and Sakura looked down at Hiyori.

"Is that okay Sarugaki-fukutaichou?" She asked and said girl shrugged.

"Might as well" she grunted and started to walk away. Sakura looked at her as she walked away before waving and yelling 'goodbye' to Urahara as she ran to catch up with the lieutenant.

Once she was walking along with Hiyori Sakura started to think. In this fight she wanted to avoid using her zanpakutos at all costs. After so long she didn't know if it would be the same. Sakura looked down at her hip where her larger zanpakuto sat. She knew for sure she wouldn't draw that one, Riko-tekina Fukushu-sha was not something to use in a friendly fight, it could end up affecting a person for the rest of their life. If she had to she would use only Yumeobito, which was tucked into her uniform. Hopefully she could get away with just her non-shinigami attacks like chakra scalpels and her super strength. Then she had an idea.

"Sarugaki-fukutaichou do you think Yoruichi-taichou will agree to fighting barehanded?" She questioned and Hiyori looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Why would ya wanna do that?! She's a master at hand-to-hand combat!" Hiyori yelled and Sakura told her the truth.

"I don't want to use my zanpakutos in this fight, not until I've had the time to talk to them." Hiyori nodded but still protested.

"It's still suicide ta fight her barehanded!" She exclaimed. Sakura just smiled down at her and shook her head.

"Well if I lose it won't be because I didn't try, it will just be because she's better than me." She said and Hiyori just looked at her.

"Idiot" she said finally looking away. Sakura frowned at her but said nothing else.

They made their way to the second division in silence. Sakura got the feeling that Hiyori didn't know what to think of her. When they were finally within the second division gates Hiyori led Sakura to a large courtyard where many of the captains and their lieutenants were waiting. Yourichi saw them coming and smiled and waved.

"Sakura" she called waving her over. Sakura and Hiyori walked over to the group of people. Yoruichi smiled wider and grabbed Sakura's arm pushing her right into the middle of the group making her crash into someone's back. Sakura quickly backed up and apologized as the man turned around to face her.

"Ah, sorry Ukitake-taichou!" She said before glaring over her shoulder at Yoruichi who wasn't affected in the least. A large shadow fell over Sakura before an angry voice spoke.

"This is what you people got me up for a weak little pink child!" A man Sakura didn't recognize in a captains haori with the number eleven printed on it bellowed. He must have been the one captain who didn't show up for the captains meeting. Sakura looked up at the man who had to be past seven feet tall and glared at him. Shunsui stepped up behind Sakura placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Now, now Kiganjo-san don't write her off so early." He said laughing slightly and Sakura appreciated the gesture. Kiganjo laughed.

"Don't make me laugh, Kyoraku. How could this little thing have been a threat to seireitei?" He laughed and Sakura decided she had had enough of this man. Everyone watched as Sakura shook off Shunsui's hand before walking right up to Kiganjo. He saw her walking towards him and stopped laughing, smiling smugly. "What are you going to do little girl?"

"THIS YOU BASTARD!" She yelled and sent her fist flying into his stomach. For a second nothing happened but then Kiganjo was suddenly sent flying backwards, crashing right into one of the buildings surrounding the courtyard and disappearing from their sight though they could still hear him crashing through walls. "AND DON'T GET BACK UP!"

Everything was silent as they all just stared at Sakura who was still fuming. Then Shinji whistled.

"Damn" he said before he was suddenly pushed to the ground by Hiyori who rushed over to Sakura.

"How the hell did ya do that?!" She exclaimed staring up at Sakura while ignoring Shinji's yelling. Sakura didn't answer instead her eyes widened and she quickly turned to Yoruichi.

"I'm so sorry Yoruichi-taichou" she bowed her head "I let my temper get the best of me." She said with her eyes down cast. Yoruichi laughed loudly, surprising Sakura, and clutched her stomach. Once she was done laughing Yoruichi waved off her apology.

"What are you saying sorry for, that was great!" Yoruichi said "but I do second Hiyori's question, how did you do that?" She asked eagerly and all the other captains expressed their want to know too.

"Umm" Sakura said a little embarrassed "I just focus chakra into my hand and then release it at the right moment. It's called chakra-enhanced strength. I don't know if it can be done with reiatsu though." She said scratching her cheek. Then she flinched and looked down at her hand. Sakura frowned when she saw a chakra burn running along her knuckles though she also felt it along her arms covered by her uniform, her control must be worse than she thought. Unohana noticed the burn too and asked.

"Haruno-san, what happened?" She asked in a caring tone. Sakura just smiled sadly, slightly angry with herself, before answering.

"Being locked up in all those seals has greatly weakened my chakra control so doing things like my chakra enhanced strength or even healing in large amounts will leave a chakra burn at wherever I focus the chakra." She explained and enveloped her hand with healing chakra to sooth the burn. "You would understand better if you had seen my prison." She told them and before anyone could ask Urahara's voice cut in.

"Uhh, what did I miss?" He said scratching the back of his head. Everyone stared at him for a moment before Love answered.

"Kiganjo was just put in his place." He told him and Urahara looked at him in question.

"Who?" Urahara asked.

"Ah you haven't met him yet, he's the captain of the eleventh division." Shunsui answered. Urahara nodded while walking over to them. Once he was in the group Yoruichi clapped to get everyone's attention before smiling at Sakura.

"So about that spar, what do you say Sakura?" Sakura looked up at her with determination in her eyes. Sakura held a fist in front of her and answered.

"Let's do it!"

The third chapter, I like this one for some reason. First I need to say thanks to The Woman On A Flaming Pie for pointing out my misspelling of chakra, so thank you, I think I fixed it all of them. Second thank you in general to everyone who's read, reviewed, favorited, and alerted. Oh and I just want to tell you guys if your rooting for Hitsugaya/Sakura you'll be disappointed because there will be none in this story. I've just seen that pairing done so many times and he just really wouldn't fit with Sakura. So I'm sorry if that was something you wanted to see. But anyways please review; they're my motivation and inspiration.


	5. Chapter 4: The Spar

Deep Within The Maggots Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Chapter 4: The Spar

"Let's do it!" Sakura exclaimed causing Yoruichi to grin. "... But Yoruichi-taichou would it be alright if we fight without using our zanpakutos?" Yoruichi was openly surprised along with quite a few others.

"Are you sure that's something you want to do Haruno-san?" Aizen spoke up from next to his captain. Sakura smiled at him and nodded.

"I know what I'm doing." She told them. Yoruichi agreed.

"Sure" she said her grin coming back. Sakura smiled, pulling her zanpakutos off of her person and holding them out to Urahara.

"Would you please hold these for me Urahara-taichou?" He nodded, taking the weapons from her. Yoruichi and Sakura stepped away from the group of people, moving to stand in the middle of the courtyard a few feet from each other.

No one said begin but the fight started all the same. Yoruichi disappeared and Sakura barely had enough time to block her kick. Sakura pushed Yoruichi back with brute strength before back flipping away from her. Yoruichi disappeared again but this time Sakura was prepared. She grabbed Yoruichi's fist pulling her forward to try and land a punch at her jaw. Yoruichi dodged before falling to the floor to do a sweeping kick to knock her over. Sakura fell on her back but quickly recovered jumping back up and dodging one of Yoruichi's hits. Sakura suddenly lunged forward landing a solid punch to Yoruichi's cheek. Yoruichi skid back a few feet and lifted her hand to wipe some blood from her mouth. Sakura saw Yoruichi's face get serious before she disappeared and reappeared above Sakura trying to land a kick. Sakura dodged before going on the offensive. Sakura upped her speed and attacked Yoruichi. The two looked like nothing more than blurs to all the spectators.

While engaged in a high-speed taijutsu fight Sakura assessed her body's condition. She was tiring quickly but still had more than enough chakra to keep her going for a while. But Sakura's thinking cost her. Yoruichi slipped under her guard and planted a kick to Sakura's side. Sakura's eyes widened as she flew to the side before they narrowed. She moved to attack Yoruichi again this time channeling chakra to her fists. Sakura jumped up planning to hit Yoruichi from above but she dodged and Sakura's fist hit the ground. Everyone's eyes widened when a huge crater appeared around where Sakura's fist hit the ground. Yoruichi seeing this jumped back away from her and smirked.

"Finally getting serious, are we?" She said and shrugged off her captain's haori. Sakura did the same, sliding her arms out of the top part of her uniform letting the material just hang at her waist leaving her in a black tank top. Sakura felt much better now having been freed from all that cloth. They stared at each other for a moment before they both disappeared from sight appearing briefly every few seconds when they clashed.

Sakura created two chakra scalpels, one on each hand and tried to slash at her but Yoruichi dodged. Sakura kept trying until she finally slashed Yoruichi's upped arm. Yoruichi gasped at the pain in her arm but didn't falter. Yoruichi quickly jumped away from Sakura so she could look at her arm and was surprised when she saw no cut. Sakura waited patiently for Yoruichi to come back at her and wasn't disappointed. Yoruichi ignored the pain in her left arm and jumped back at Sakura aiming a kick at her head. Sakura dodged before grabbing Yoruichi's ankle and throwing her over her shoulder. Yoruichi recovered midair and vanished. Sakura wasn't fast enough and she was hit in the side again before they once again became blurs attacking each other.

Sakura felt great even though it had come to the point where her body was screaming for her to stop. She even felt the newly formed chakra burns all over her arms. But it was exhilarating fighting again and she didn't want to stop. Sakura blocked another punch and bent backward to avoid Yoruichi's other fist. Sakura used the momentum to land a chakra-powered kick into her stomach. Yoruichi gasped as she flew back and felt at least two of her ribs crack. Sakura grinned in victory but it wasn't over yet. Yoruichi surged forward and aimed a punch at Sakura's face. Sakura blocked and Yoruichi then reversed her grip and punched Sakura in the jaw with her other fist. Sakura was thrown back a bit before smirking and deciding to give everyone something to talk about. First she sent healing chakra to all of her injuries healing them partially before everyone's eyes then she started a sequence of hand signs. Yoruichi halted her attack to see what Sakura was up to before a giant water dragon appeared behind Sakura. The dragon opened its mouth in a silent roar before shooting forward, crashing into Yoruichi. The water pushed her back making her sprawl on the ground for a moment stunned before she got up.

"That's not fair!" She yelled over to Sakura who stood panting. Sakura smirked wider.

"I only said we couldn't use our zanpakutos not anything else." She called and Yoruichi smiled.

"Well then," she said and this time disappeared faster than Sakura could see. She reappeared behind Sakura landing a kick to her back. Sakura flew forward a bit before jumping into a handstand and flipping back upright. She looked for Yoruichi again but she was gone only to show up right in front of Sakura. Sakura dodged just in time and decided she needed to end this soon. Sakura continued dodging using all her skill to avoid Yoruichi's now impossible speed. Yoruichi gave her no time to attack so she had to keep dodging all of Yoruichi's attacks. When Sakura finally saw an opening she took it landing a chakra-enhanced fist into Yoruichi's abdomen sending her flipping through the air. Yoruichi landed on her feet though she did clutch her ribs. They both panted though Sakura's whole body was shaking with exertion. She knew she couldn't take any more or her body would shut itself down. When her breathing evened some she called out to Yoruichi.

"How about we call it a tie, I don't think either of us can take much more." She shouted. Yoruichi sighed but nodded and folded to the ground sitting crisscross. Sakura walked over to her still shaking a bit. "Can I heal your ribs, I know I broke at least one." Yoruichi looked up at her before shrugging and wincing as she did.

"Sure, Sakura." Sakura kneeled down next to Yoruichi and placed her hand on her ribs as everyone else walked over. Sakura healed Yoruichi's ribs but when she pulled away she winced. Sakura looked down at her arms, her eyes widening at the sight of the chakra burns that ran all the way up her arms. Her hands were by far the worst though. Sakura calculated that she didn't have enough chakra to heal herself and instead spent almost all of her chakra healing the severed muscle in Yoruichi's arm.

Sakura stood, her whole body shaking some more and she was painfully ashamed of how tired she was. Back when she was alive she could have gone on for hours and used twenty more advanced jutsu before she would become like this. Sakura looked down at her shaking arms and frowned. Most of her muscle tone was gone too because of the years of inactivity. She just knew it would be hard to get it back. Urahara noticed her shaking and placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura-san?" He questioned. Sakura hid her shame and smiled up at him though she couldn't stop the tremors.

"It seems I overworked myself too soon" she commented looking down at her burns. She couldn't heal them now, she would have to just bandage them and wait until her chakra came back. Sakura slipped back into the upper part of her uniform wanting to hide the majority of the burns but she knew everyone saw them. Then she took her zanpakutos from Urahara, placing them in their respective areas.

"Haruno-san I could look those for you." Unohana said looking at her worried. Sakura shook her head.

"It's alright Unohana-taichou, I can just heal them later when I regain some chakra." Sakura said. Unohana still looked worried but didn't argue.

"Well would you at least come with me to the fourth division to bandage them." Sakura thought for a minute for deciding to go with her.

"I will go with you but can we wait just a bit?" Unohana nodded and Sakura turned to Yoruichi. "So how was it?" She asked. Yoruichi stood up and smiled at her.

"Your pretty good and your fast, we'll have to play tag some time." Yoruichi exclaimed. Sakura smiled glad she had at least made an impression. "But what was that water dragon?" She asked curiously. Sakura smiled sheepishly before answering.

"It's called ninjutsu, I'm sorry it probably wasn't fair." Yoruichi snickered.

"Well I definitely wasn't expecting that. What else can you do?" Yoruichi asked eagerly. Sakura was a little embarrassed.

"Umm well there are many different types of ninjutsu. Everyone has a different chakra type. I have a water and earth jutsu affinity but your can learn any elemental jutsu if you train enough. Then there's genjutsu, that's the art of creating and dispelling illusions..." She drifted off and from the corner of her eye she saw Aizen's eyes widen. Sakura's eyes narrowed a bit but she dismissed it as simple surprise. "But I mostly use medical ninjutsu. That's what I used to cut your arm. It's a variation of medical ninjutsu that is used offensively as well as for surgeries called a chakra scalpel. It cuts internally so there's no open wound." She explained. Yoruichi nodded and shook her head.

"You must have been pretty strong if this is how you are weakened." Ukitake said and Sakura blushed and shook her head.

"If you think I'm impressive your would have been shocked into a coma if you saw Sasuke or... Naruto." She said faltering a bit before Naruto's name. Everyone noticed the stumble but no one said anything instead Lisa came to stand in front of Sakura.

"Are you saying that your abilities are common in your world?" She asked, curious. Sakura tilted her head.

"I wouldn't say that their common but anyone could learn them I suppose but there are some things that you would need to learn them efficiently, like excellent chakra control." She said. Lisa nodded and stepped back behind her captain. Shunsui came up to Sakura's side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"How about we all go get something to eat, what do you say Sakura-chan?" Sakura smiled and nodded but then remembered.

"Well can I meet you there? Unohana-taichou is going to take me to the fourth division to get these bandaged." She asked him, motioning to her burns. He smiled down at her and nodded.

"Unohana-san I'm assuming that your coming but would you show Sakura-chan the way to the restaurant?" Shunsui asked and Unohana nodded.

"Of course but we should get going Haruno-san." She said and Sakura smiled, slipping out from under Shunsui's arm and walked away from everyone with Unohana.

They made it to the fourth division rather quickly and Unohana then lead Sakura to a room. Once inside she sat Sakura down on the bed and walked to the cabinets to get some bandages. Once she had them in her hand she walked back over to Sakura. Sakura looked embarrassed but spoke up all the same.

"Umm, I think we'll need more than that." She said lifting up the hem of her pants to show the burns on her legs. Unohana gasped and set right to work bandaging the wounds. Once she was all bandaged up Sakura put her uniform back on wincing as the burns stretched. Unohana saw and frowned but decided not to say anything. Sakura stood up flexing what was left of her muscles and scowled to her self. All those years of training her body to become a perfect weapon wasted because of some old coots fear. Sakura inwardly scoffed if they hadn't set a trap for her they would have never found her. Unohana finished cleaning up and turned to Sakura, smiling gently.

"Are you ready to go Haruno-san?" She asked politely. Sakura nodded up to the slightly taller woman and they left the fourth division.

Dinner was interesting and there were plenty of laughs especially when some of the captains got a little drunk. Sakura laughed so hard tears came out of her eyes and she felt great even with the burns still bothering her. Hiyori got in another fight with Shinji while Urahara tried to calm her down just making her get mad at him. Sakura was in a conversation with Yoruichi about her abilities when Mashiro interrupted.

"Ne Sakura-chan, who are Naruto and Sasuke?" She asked and everything went silent. Sakura's face looked stricken and her eyes were wide. Her head bowed before she answered.

"... Naruto was my best friend in the whole world and he died to save everyone in the world." She told them with one hand clutching the area above her heart. Her other hand went to the hilt of Riko-tekina Fukushu-sha. "Sasuke was... He was my first love and he was the one who caused my death." Nothing was said afterwards and conversation was slow to start up again. Sakura soon joined but everyone could see the pain in her eyes. Once everyone was done eating they went their separate ways, Sakura, Urahara, and Hiyori heading back to the twelfth division when everyone else went the their respective divisions. Once in her room Sakura lied down and let a few tears escape. She once again hugged her zanpakutos to her chest and fell asleep.

When she opened her eyes she was no longer in her room.

"Well I didn't expect to end up here." She laughed looking out into her empty old village. She stood on top of Naruto's face carved into the hokage monument and knew she was within her inner world; Naruto didn't live long enough to become hokage.

"It was a surprise Sakura-chan!" A mans voice cut in.

"Baka! Don't talk to my Sakura-chan!" A child's voice yelled to the older man who sighed. Before they could get into a fight Sakura spoke.

"Why am I here?"

The fifth chapter! I hope everyone likes it. I'm not the best at battles so sorry if the spar sucked, I'll practice more for the next one. And sorry to Mikachu and anyone else who wants a badass Sakura right away, she won't be that way for a while but she will get there I promise! Thanks again for reading! Please review and tell me what you think, I love to hear ideas!


	6. Chapter 5: Not Naruto and Sasuke

Deep Within The Maggots Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Chapter 5: Not Naruto and Sasuke

"Why am I here?" Sakura asked not looking at the two figures behind her. Both of them pouted.

"Aww, come on Sakura-chan don't be like that!" The older one exclaimed. The younger one came to stand next to Sakura and grabbed her hand.

"Your not mad at me are you Sakura-chan?!" The little one shouted. Sakura sighed sadly before finally looking down at the little boy.

His pitch black eyes stared up at her hopefully as the wind ruffled the little boys black hair. She smiled at the familiar shape of his hair before she looked up at the other man. His hair shined like the sun while his eyes were bluer than the ocean and the lines on his cheeks were defined. He was dressed in the hokage robes and he smiled at her. The Sasuke look-a-like saw Sakura looking at the Naruto look-a-like and scowled, glaring at the older man and tugged at her hand.

"Sakura-chan" he whined and Sakura finally looked back down at him.

"Riko you shouldn't be so needy." The Naruto look-a-like said seriously.

"Shut up baka-Yume! We haven't seen Sakura-chan in a thousand years!" Yume shook his head but said no more. Just watching the two made Sakura sad. When she had first discovered the identity of her zanpakutos she thought Naruto and Sasuke were with her but that wasn't the case. Yume saw her sad look and glared slightly at Riko.

"Your making Sakura-chan sad, Riko." The little boys eyes widened as he looked up at Sakura. Her eyes were misty but she seemed fine to the oblivious little boy.

"Sakura-chan's not sad! She just happy to see me baka!" He yelled and Sakura was reminded why she hated coming here. He zanpakutos were not Naruto and Sasuke but the impressions that they had made on her very soul. They were the representations of Naruto and Sasuke at their happiest, Naruto in his twenties and hokage, Sasuke as a child before the massacre. They were a cruel tease but they were part of her and she had to learn to accept them.

"Yume, Riko how have you been?" She asked the pair. Tears welled up in Riko's eyes and he hugged Sakura.

"I was so lonely Sakura-chan! The only person there was to talk to was that baka!" He wailed. Yume rolled his eyes but agreed.

"It has been a long time Sakura-chan." Yume commented walking toward her. He stood right next to her as they looked out on the vacant Konoha. "Your troubled Sakura-chan." Yume stated and Sakura looked down to the floor.

"It's been so long..." She trailed off "are you guys mad at me?" She questioned and Riko's eyes widened further.

"NO! Sakura-chan I could never be mad at you!" He cried. Yume agreed and put an arm around her shoulder.

"You know we could never be mad at you Sakura-chan." He told her smiling down at her. Sakura sighed sadly but smiled at them.

"Well we're together again." She started "will you two still allow me to use you?" She asked seriously and Riko nodded furiously while Yume simply smiled down at her.

"Of course Sakura-chan!" Riko said before glaring over at Yume. "But only as long as you only use me and me alone not that baka!" He told her seriously.

"Riko why do you have to be so jealous? Why can't Sakura-chan just use us at the same time?" Yume said exasperated.

"Because Sakura-chan is mine! You shouldn't even be here baka!" Riko yelled and ended up in a one sided argument with Yume. Sakura massaged her temples and scrunched her eyes together.

"Shut up!" She yelled at the two, annoyed, before she apologized "sorry guys, but Yume you didn't answer." Yume looked down at her with Naruto's eyes and for a moment she thought she saw the real Naruto standing next to her but that image disappeared in a second. Yume smiled, carefree.

"You can always count on me, dattebayo!" He said smiling a fox like smile. Sakura nodded quietly and took a deep breath in before smiling.

"I'm so glad to see you again!" She said hugging them both. Yume accepted the hug without protest while Riko tried to push him out of the embrace. Soon though he gave up and just hugged Sakura back tightly. Two tears fell from Sakura's eyes and in her head she kept chanting 'Their not Naruto and Sasuke. Their not Naruto and Sasuke.' Sakura pulled back and wiped her face before she smiled at her zanpakutos. "It's great to see you guys but can I get some real sleep?" She asked jokingly but Yume saw through it. Yume grabbed her hand and teleported the three of them to what used to be Sakura's apartment. "Thanks Yume." She said before heading to the bedroom with Riko following her. Sakura laid down and settled herself under her covers while Riko crawled in the bed with her, holding her hand. Sakura looked at the innocent child before shutting her eyes tightly not wanting to see him anymore. Sakura then relaxed letting herself drift asleep again.

Sakura woke up refreshed physically while emotionally she was drained. She loved her zanpakutos, really, but seeing them brought up so many memories and 'what ifs'. Sakura stood up and stretched, tensing when she remembered the chakra burns. It was no problem though as Sakura willed healing chakra to all the burns on her body and healed them. Then she quickly got dressed and left her room intending on helping with the construction of the lab.

It's amazing how fast time passes; before she knew it four months had passed. The labs construction was almost complete and Sakura had been training everyday to get back in shape. Sakura could say she was happy with he progress. Her chakra control, while not at the level it was twelve hundred years ago, was already to the point where channeling it came naturally. Her muscles were steadily strengthening though they still had a long way to go before she could crush boulders without chakra. Since their first spar she and Yoruichi had become great friends, sparing every week or so. Sakura also maintained a healthy relationship with quite a few of the other captains and their lieutenants. It was wonderful and the friendships helped chase away the loneliness and the guilt.

Today had been a long one. Though Sakura was happy with the way the medical research sector was coming along there were a lot of things she had to deal with. Today was mostly transfer papers. She was surprised how many members of the fourth squad had put in a transfer request. All of them were unseated but the number was still impressive. Paperwork was tedious but Sakura had been Tsunade's apprentice for years and doing her paperwork came with the title.

Sakura sighed and placed the last piece of paper in the large pile on her desk in the medical workroom of the lab. She was finally done with all the paperwork and was she glad about that. Now she had time to head over to the second division to see Yoruichi. Sakura stepped lightly out of the lab not wanting to disturb Urahara and Kurotsuchi who were each working on their own projects. Once out of the twelfth division Sakura sped up, walking quickly. She headed straight to the second division not wanting a repeat of the last time when she got lost. It wasn't bad it was just weird.

Aizen must have specifically sought her out because the fifth division was pretty far away from the twelfth. That and he was very careful, it took a lifetime of shinobi training to know how to tell the difference between casual inquiry and integration. He wanted to know about genjutsu and she couldn't figure out why he was so insistent on knowing everything about it, you can't cast genjutsu with reiatsu. She told him what he wanted to know but vaguely, only giving the bare minimum of information. She didn't know what made her so suspicious of him but every bit of her instinct told her to be wary. And even after that she kept seeing him almost every time she left her division, he just kept showing up at the most random times.

Sakura shook her head as she walked through the second division; she decided she no longer wanted to think about Aizen and his unusual tendencies. She took off heading towards Yoruichi's crest room. Once she got there she pouted seeing that no one was there. Sakura sighed before heading back out of the second division. She didn't want to go back to the twelfth division just yet so she decided to wander around seireitei.

Walking around Sakura found herself lost but shrugged it off thinking she could ask for directions if needed. But that was unneeded when someone called her name.

"Sakura" Yoruichi yelled using shunpo to appear right in front of her. Sakura was unable to say anything before a teen that looked a little younger than she looked appeared striking downwards with a katana at Yoruichi. Yoruichi dodged, laughing while Sakura watched puzzled.

"Stay still you damned cat!" The boy yelled and swung the katana again. Yoruichi danced out of the way moving to hide behind Sakura. The boy's eye twitched but he looked unsure of what to do now.

"Hahahaha, what are you going to do now little Byakuya?!" Yoruichi laughed and Byakuya tensed before speaking.

"I suggest you move you demon cat." He spoke irritated. "And give me it back!" He finished yelling. She just laughed while Sakura didn't really know what to do, so she spoke.

"Yoruichi-taichou what are you doing?" She asked as Yoruichi used her as a shield when Byakuya tried to go around.

"Ah Byakuya, let me introduce you to my friend Haruno Sakura." Yoruichi said smiling deviously. Byakuya grunted and she pouted. "Now, now little Byakuya that's no way for the next Kuchiki clan head to act." She mocked and he scowled. Then he finally looked at Sakura. At first Sakura was shocked at the resemblance the boy had to anyone of the Uchiha clan but she shook this off and smiled. Sakura stuck her hand out.

"Haruno Sakura." She stated and he nodded hesitantly taking her hand.

"Kuchiki Byakuya." He said curtly before taking a chance and jumping at Yoruichi. Sakura rolled out of the way while Yoruichi just sidestepped the blow. Yoruichi laughed and used shunpo to get away yelling a goodbye to Sakura. Byakuya twitched again.

"She's heading back towards the second division, you know?" She told him smiling at the brash young man. He looked at her again and nodded.

"Thank you" he called before leaving with shunpo too. Sakura shook her head at the odd situation but then she went on her way. Sakura walked on through seireitei stopping occasionally to look at something when her name was called again.

"Sakura-san" Aizen called walking towards her, he smiled at her warmly and inwardly she cursed.

"Is there something you need Aizen-fukutaichou?" She asked politely while inside she groaned, what did he want now?

"No I just saw you walking and thought I'd say hello. How are you doing?" He asked smiling sweetly. Sakura scolded herself for being so suspicious and answered.

"I'm good, construction is almost complete so the real work will be starting soon." Aizen listened to her intently. "How about you?" She asked.

"I've been well, Sakura-san. It was nice seeing you but I should go." He said. "But we should get together sometime." He smiled at her one more time before he walked off in the direction of the fifth division. Sakura sighed glad he was gone and decided to head back to the twelfth division. Luckily she wasn't stopped again and made it back to the division. She headed back to her room stopping only briefly to greet Hiyori who she hadn't seen in a few days before she continued to her room.

Sakura sat down on her futon and thought. She didn't understand what Aizen was trying to do. It was almost like he was trying to integrate himself into her life. Sakura slapped her forehead reminding herself that she was no longer in a world with separate nations seireitei was a singular power. She had no reason to be suspicious of another member of the gotei thirteen.

Ok, I know this chapter sucks but I just needed a filler chapter where Sakura met Byakuya. And yes I know their meeting was lame but I made it that way so that the second time they meet will be more interesting. Either the next chapter or the chapter after that will have a major time skip so be prepared for that. Oh, and please tell me what you think of Sakura's zanpakutos and how they interact with Sakura and each other. But anyways thanks for reading and please, please review!


	7. Chapter 6: Goodbye

Deep Within The Maggots Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Chapter 6: Goodbye

Nine Years Later

Sakura bit her lip in concentration, carefully dropping a precise amount of liquid into a vial. But she was interrupted by lots of yelling. Sakura hung her head in anger and clenched her fists, crushing both the glass vials in her hands. She was already having a bad day, her nerves were all over the place and now this again for the millionth time. She stood stomping her way to the door of her lab and swung it open, slamming it into the wall.

"What the hell is all this yelling about?!" She yelled and everyone in the room looked at her. Akon was the first to say anything, looking pointedly at Hiyori.

"She's just bitching" he said to Sakura before talking directly to Hiyori. "If it bugs you so much, why don't you just step down as lieutenant?" He asked dully and quickly dodged multiple kicks to his head.

"SHUT UP AKON! Do you want a kick to the head?!" Hiyori screamed. Akon ignored her and walked over to Kurotsuchi. "AAAAAAH! Your pissing me off!" She yelled.

"Sorry, but you're the only one I can trust with this." Urahara spoke up. "Feel free to take whatever you think you might need. Getting samples from the crime scene will be very important to solving the mystery of these disappearances." He paused "I'm counting on you Hiyori-san." He said and she grumbled, blushing looking away before she spoke.

"Asshole!" she yelled walking towards the door. "You'd better pay me extra for this! And don't forget!" She said before slamming the door shut behind her. Urahara smiled sheepishly and Sakura walked over to him.

"What was that all about Urahara-taichou?" She asked. He looked down at her, his face becoming serious. Urahara explained the circumstances and Sakura nodded. Before turning to head back into her lab.

"I'll get back to work and see if there's anything I can find out." She said with a grim look on her face, ten missing shinigami was serious and Sakura's gut was telling her something was very wrong.

Sakura stayed in her lab until night pouring over Urahara's notes when an emergency annocment reverberated throughout all of seireitei.

"EMERGENCY MEETING! EMERGENCY MEETING! ALL CAPTAINS PLEASE GATHER IMMEDIATELY IN THE FIRST DIVISION QUARTERS!" Sakura looked up in alarm. "THERE HAS BEEN AN ACCIDENT WITH THE NINTH DIVISION! WE CAN NOT GET A SOUL SIGNAL FROM CAPTAIN MUGURUMA KENSEI OR LIEUTENANT KUNA MASHIRO! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY-!" Sakura stopped listening and stood up quickly, walking out of her lab just when Urahara burst through the door to the main lab.

"Where's Hiyori?" He asked quickly and one of the lab assistants answered.

"She... She just left..." The girl said meekly. Urahara didn't stick around. He ran off just as Sakura was about to call his name. She clutched her hands together in worry, she had a really bad feeling. Sakura then decided to stay in the lab until Urahara returned. Eventually everyone else in the lab left and Sakura just waited in the darkness, and worried. When Urahara finally came in he went straight into his office before Sakura could say anything. She stood and waited by the door. When he came out he was wearing a black cloak of some kind and a matching hat. He was obviously doing something against the rules because Sakura could no longer feel his reiatsu. He looked surprised when he saw Sakura but then his face evened out.

"Sakura-san what are you still doing here?" He asked before he shook his head. "I need to go" he said firmly and Sakura hesitated before grabbing Urahara's forearm when he tried to walk past her.

"You know you can trust me with anything, right?" He looked down at her, studying her face.

"Can I really though?" He asked and Sakura felt a pang in her heart. She nodded her head vehemently.

"You saved me from a lifetime of solitude. You gave me the opportunity to make friends. You gave me freedom." Sakura said looking him straight in the eye. "Your one of my most important people and I have this terrible feeling that this will be the last time I see you." She confessed with tears gathering in her eyes. Urahara just stared at her for a moment before he placed a hand on top of her head.

"Just go to your room Sakura-san, I promise I'll be back... With Hiyori-san and everyone else." He told her and she looked like she wanted to protest but just hung her head. Urahara patted her shoulder and took off. Sakura watched him go until he disappeared from her sight. Then she sighed and headed back to her room quietly, but once inside she didn't relax. Sakura paced back and forth the length of her room. She just couldn't calm down. She was terrified of losing everyone again. Sakura finally stopped pacing and flopped onto her futon.

Then she sat up, thinking. What the heck was she doing? Those were her friends out there and she was here doing nothing. Kakashi's voice flittered through her head 'In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.' Sakura's eyes hardened and she stood, moving purposely towards the door. Before she left she lifted her hands doing a sequence of hand signs casting a simple genjutsu over herself. It was risky, but Sakura hypothesized that if reiatsu couldn't cast genjutsu than it shouldn't be able to detect or release it either.

Sakura slipped into the hallway silently and quickly ran out of the division when she stopped. Her chakra sensing abilities were out of practice but she should still be able to locate Hiyori's reiatsu. She closed her eyes a concentrated. It took her a minute look around but when she found a group of people with large amount of reiatsu she figured she had found the right place. Sakura took off using all her speed and stealth to get to the area. Sakura slowed down as she got close though, she didn't know what she was heading into. She looked around before jumping into the trees and continuing on her way. Sakura stayed as silent as possible, the genjutsu didn't hide sound, as she neared. Once there she gasped soundlessly. On the ground incapacitated were Shinji, Hiyori, Love, Rose, Lisa, Kensei, Mashiro, and a large man she had never seen before. All of them had what looked like hollow masks on their faces. Sakura narrowed her eyes and scanned for Urahara. He stood with another man she had never seen before across from... Aizen? She frowned, had her gut been right about him all this time? Aizen was with two other people, one young looking child who she remembered as the boy who graduated in record time and one who she recognized from Kensei's squad. Urahara talked almost civilly with Aizen.

"This is hollowfication" Urahara stated glaring at Aizen and Sakura's brow furrowed, she had read about that somewhere in his notes.

"... I see" Aizen said "you're just the sort of man I thought you were. I'm glad you came here tonight. Lets go, Gin, Kaname." The three of them turned to walk away and just as Sakura was about to jump down the man with Urahara stepped in.

"Please get out of the way Urahara!" He yelled. "HADO 88 HIRYU GEKIZOKU SHINTEN RAIHO!" Sakura was so surprised by the power she almost didn't hear Aizen's response.

"Bakudo 81 danku" Sakura's eyes widened at the forbidden technique and she was shocked still.

"... Imposible. A lieutenant stopped my kido with the forbidden danku...?!" The man said and when it all faded away the thee of them were gone. The man sighed. "Forgive me, it appears I let them get away."

"Tessai... What on earth...?" Urahara trailed off

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Shinji screamed and Urahara ran towards him at the same time Sakura decided to reveal herself, dropping the genjutsu.

"HIRAKO/HIRAKO-TAICHOU!" They yelled in sync. Urahara and Tessai's heads quickly turned to look at her as they prepared to defend their fallen comrades. Urahara relaxed slightly when he saw it was her but still barked out.

"Sakura! What are you doing here?!" He yelled and she shot him a glare while running towards Shinji.

"Does that really matter right now?! We need to help them!" She yelled back. He stared at her for a moment before he nodded and Tessai spoke up.

"We can talk about it later. She's right, right now we need to treat Hirako and the others."

"But we can't treat them here, not when it's progressed this far!" Urahara exclaimed.

"Urahara you appear to know something about this... About this 'hollowfication' which I've never heard of before. If so you must know how to deal with it. Am I correct?!" He spoke strongly. Urahara hesitated for a moment before nodding

"... I do... But it's a gamble..."

"I understand! But it's better than nothing! I'll take these eight to the twelfth division quarters just as they are. You should be able to save them with the equipment there!" Tessai said walking towards where Sakura sat with the others.

"Just as they are...?! But... How...?" Urahara asked. Tessai looking down for a second before speaking.

"I'll use 'jikan teishi' and 'kukan teni'. Both are forbidden techniques so I beg you to close your eyes an cover your ears for a moment!" Sakura looked up at him before complying with his request. She felt a shift in the air and felt herself moving somehow as she stayed still. Once she opened her eyes she saw that she was in fact in the twelfth division along with everyone else. Urahara looked over at the hollowfied shinigami and took off his hat before explaining.

"'Hollowfication'... Is one of the 'solutions' I came up with when researching how to strengthen souls. In the process I created a substance that will instantaneously break down the boundaries between hollows and shinigami... With this I can save Hirako and the others. It's called the hougyoku." While Urahara explained Sakura went straight to work assessing everyone's condition. Hiyori's was probably the worst so once Urahara was done talking she spoke up.

"Then you do what you can and I'll heal their injuries." She spoke firmly. Urahara looked at her and nodded heading to one of them and getting to work. They all stayed up all night treating them all. Sakura was faced with severe chakra depletion and when she collapsed for the first time Urahara sent her back to her room. At first she protested but gave in when he reassured her that he would watch over them. So Sakura reluctantly went back to her room and passed out before she even hit her pillow.

When she woke she wasted no time and headed straight back to where the others were. She walked quickly but stopped and slunk into the shadows when she heard some whispering. She peaked around the corner and her eyes widened. The whole room was heavily guarded and neither Urahara or Tessai were there. Sakura stayed out of sight trying to decide what to do when he decision was made for her. In less than a second another person appeared in the room. The woman made quick work of all the guards when Sakura stepped out and took down the last two. The two women stared at each other for a moment before Sakura spoke.

"Yoruichi..." she said recognizing the hair and eyes. "What's going on?"

"Urahara and Tessai were arrested and they'll probably just treat them all just like hollows." She explained and Sakura's eyes widened.

"What?!" Sakura shouted before Yoruichi gave her a silencing look. Sakura's face became determined. "Let me help you." She pleaded and Yoruichi nodded after a moment of thought.

"We need to move them somewhere safe." She said turning towards Shinji and the others. Sakura nodded moving to stand next to Yoruichi. They both grabbed four each and then Sakura spoke.

"Yoruichi-taichou do you think you can take one more?" Yoruichi looked over at her in question. "Urahara-taichou was working on a new type of gigai we should take it too." Yoruichi nodded and took Lisa from Sakura while she grabbed the gigai and then they ran out of the second division.

Sakura followed Yoruichi as she lead them towards Sokyoku hill. They went to a cave on the side of the mountian where inside there was an entrance to a secret underground area. Sakura gapped as they dropped in to the large room. They set down the hollowfied shinigami and then Sakura turned to Yoruichi.

"Where are Urahara-taichou and Tessai-san?"she asked looking up at Yoruichi. She looked over at Sakura.

"I'm going to go get them" Sakura nodded. "You stay here with them," she gestured to everyone "I'll be back." And before Sakura could say anything she was gone. Sakura sighed and checked on all of the others, making sure everything was healed correctly. She checked twice before she started to pace impatiently. Only ten minutes later Yoruichi appeared with Urahara and Tessai.

"Th-thank you Yoruichi." Urahara said, winded.

"There's no new to thank me. And I'll refrain for the moment from kicking you for not taking me with you last night." She liked over at the pile of shinigami. "... We brought all eight of them along with the new gigai you were working on." Urahara's brow furrowed.

"We?" He questioned.

"We." Sakura spoke up. Urahara and Tessai looked over at her in surprise, noticing her for the first time. Urahara smiled at her despite the situation.

"Now get on with it." Yoruichi spoke up. "With the best to the worst situation that you'd thought since you first heard about this from Hirako." She said

"... So you know everything. What an unpleasant person." He said.

"You're one to talk" Yoruichi scoffed looking away.

"... Tessai please cast temporal suspension on Hirako and the others. Then create a level 2-3 layer barrier around us. Within twenty hours I'll create gigais for the two of us as well as Hirako and the others in order to quarantine our soul powers." Urahara said firmly

"... What about Yoruichi?" Tessai asked and Yoruichi just smirked.

"Don't worry about me. I'll escape somehow."

"we'll hide out one earth and take our time solving this." Urahara spoke determined "I swear I will find a way to reverse this 'hollowfication'."

"What about me?" Sakura asked looking up at the three if them. Urahara smiled down at he sadly.

"You will go back to the twelfth division and keep an eye on things in the soul society. You're the only one beside us who knows the truth." He said and Sakura's eyes teared up but she nodded before she stepped forward and hugged Urahara. He hugged her back briefly before she pulled away to hug Yoruichi then she stepped back, tears streaming down her face.

"I was kind of right, wasn't I Urahara-taichou?" She said ironically. "I'll miss you all so much. Ca-can you tell them all goodbye for me?" She asked looking over to her fallen friends. Urahara nodded and waved at her when she turned around to walk away from them all. As she was leaving the secret underground area she looked back whispered one last goodbye before she left. She knew that this very well might have been the last time she ever saw them all.

This chapter was kind of sad but I hope you all like it. So Sakura is staying in the soul society, mostly because I want her to be there when the Kenpachi we all know and love kills Kiganjo. Well that and plenty of other things I want her to be there for. Thank you for reading and I'm still open for suggestions on the final pairing so please review and give me your opinion. And I'm sorry if this chapter has a lot of mistakes, my internet is down so I had to upload this straight from my phone. Once again thanks for reading, please review!


	8. Chapter 7: The Days Go By

Deep Within The Maggots Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Chapter 7: The Days Go By And A New Friend

It wasn't until Sakura got back to her room when she broke down completely. She was losing so many friends and she wasn't sure she could take it. She hated being this emotional but it's how she always had been. Tears poured from her eyes as she buried her head into her pillow. She could barely comprehend what all this meant. That some of her closest friends were gone, for what might be forever. The loneliness burned into her heart and she remembered why she had left Konoha. Believe it or not Sakura did not want to become immortal. The only reason she even started to research into the subject was Naruto. She felt the need to find a way to save him if the worst situation were to occur. Of course in the end it didn't matter because the idiot sacrificed himself to stop the war.

All the memories surged through Sakura's head and she dreamed of her life once she had cried herself to sleep. The next morning Sakura woke up late in the morning. Sakura got up and looked in the mirror, taking note of the red rings around her eyes. She sent some healing chakra to her eyes hoping to lessen the brightness before she left the safety of her room. Walking into the lab Sakura was almost surprised that everything seemed normal. She was going to head towards her personal lab when Kurotsuchi called her over. Sakura was surprised and angered to see him wearing the divisions captain haori. She walked towards him stopping by his side.

"Yes" she said politely though she wanted to fire off questions at him. He looked at her for a moment before smiling.

"Because of Urahara's... absence I have been allowed to assume control of the division as its new captain." Sakura was openly surprised with wide eyes, it hadn't even been a day yet and they already replaced him. "That being said I have to give you this." He handed her a lieutenant's badge Sakura took it hesitantly. "Unfortunately you really are the only one qualified to become my lieutenant." Sakura was bewildered but then she caught on to the first part.

"What the hell do you mean 'unfortunately'?" She glared and he rolled his eyes and ignored her question. Then she remembered that she wasn't supposed to know of Urahara's so called 'betrayal'. "Where is Urahara-taichou anyways, did something happen?" The irritating man just waved off her.

"You'll find out later, I'm sure. Besides that we have been ordered to stay in our division." He told her and Sakura decided to stow away her anger for now.

"Why?" She asked. Kurotsuchi looked away from her, uninterested.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked like she was an idiot. "It's because they don't trust us after Urahara's betrayal. Almost every other division is out looking for him and his accomplices." He said and as much as Sakura wanted to punch but she held back. She worried for her friends but tried not to let it show.

"Betrayal?" She tried to sound puzzled. "What are you talking about?" He shot her an annoyed glare before a thought occurred to her. "Why did they let you become captain? You need a bankai to become a captain." She said and he just yawned, bored.

"I never said I didn't have a bankai." He told her rolling his eyes once more. Sakura looked at him before deciding she had had enough of him for now, it's not like she was going to get anything out of him anyways, and turned to walk away. "Oh and one more thing," he drawled. Sakura looked at him over her shoulder. "We have a meeting today with the rest of the captains and lieutenants so be sure to be ready." Then Kurotsuchi walked away, heading towards one of the many desks in the room. Sakura sighed, her nerves on end, and headed to her lab. Once inside she leaned heavily against the door and closed her eyes. She would bet everything she owned that she knew exactly what this meeting would be about. Sakura opened her eyes and looked at the badge in her hand and clenched her fists, this shouldn't be in her hand it belonged with Hiyori. Still Sakura reluctantly fastened it on her arm.

Hours later Kurotsuchi came looking for her and then they headed towards the first division together. The walk was silent and awkward. Sakura would usually try to fill it with questions or simple chatter but she just wasn't in the mood. Instead she plastered a careful mask of innocence over her face. If she was going to stay in the soul society and keep an eye on things here no one could know she knew what she knew. Once they got to the first division they walked right into the captains meeting room. Only a few of the others were in there but that was to be expected, still she tried to look surprised at the number of missing people. The soutaichou wasn't there yet but everyone she recognized were in their places along with what must have been the third seat of the ninth division. She and Kurotsuchi joined them in line, though Sakura did so hesitantly. She bit her lip and looked around at everyone's faces. Almost all of them were grim, even that lazy-ass Kiganjo was there. But soon Yamamoto walked in with Sasakibe and called the meeting to begin.

"As most of you know betrayal has rooted its way into seireitei." He began "last night Urahara Kisuke and Tsukabishi Tessai were placed before the Central 46 to be charged with experimenting on their fellow shinigami." Sakura clenched her fists inside her sleeves. "But as of then the criminals and the victims of Urahara's experimentation have gone missing and by the absence of Shihoin Yoruichi we can only assume she has aided them in escaping. As by the orders of Central 46 all of them have now been branded traitors of the soul society." Sakura closed her eyes, she had known this was coming but that didn't mean it still didn't hurt to hear her friends talked about in such a way. She opened her eyes once more and looked over at Shunsui. He and Lisa had been close and by the somber look on his face he wasn't taking it well either. Next she looked at Aizen. He was standing in his space innocently with a small frown on his face. She almost hoped something was really bothering him but she figured it had to be a frown of fake concern. He looked up suddenly catching her staring and gave her what he must have thought to be a small reassuring smile. Inwardly she sneered but outwardly she gave a small nod in his direction before looking back to the head captain. "All orders given earlier this morning stand. Captain Kurotsuchi your division is still confined to it barracks the only exception being you and your lieutenant, and only when it is urgent." Kurotsuchi looked up, uninterested, when his name was called and lazily replied.

"Yes, yes." He seemed lost in thought and Sakura wondered what had him distracted, if maybe he was also worried about Urahara. Sakura inwardly shook her head and laughed at herself, she knew Kurotsuchi hated Urahara so she felt foolish for even beginning to think that was what was bothering him.

The soutaichou droned on for a few more minutes, giving orders to the other squads before they were all finally dismissed. Sakura let out an inaudible sigh as she followed Kurotsuchi out of the large meeting room. Walking just slightly behind the odd man she stopped only when her name was called.

"Sakura-san!" She turned and was greeted with the sight of Aizen jogging to catch up with her. He smiled down at her gently while she inwardly narrowed her eyes; he was up to something. Just looking at him made last nights events play through her head. It was gone now but when he had been standing across from Urahara, there was this aura of great power surrounding him, and arrogance too. Looking back now she had never paid any real attention to Aizen. Even though over the past few years the two of them had become friends she had never thought of him as more than he appeared to be and she wanted to kick herself for not looking underneath the underneath as Kakashi-sensei would have said. All the years spent in the after life had made her lax and she knew she should have listened to her gut feeling, the one she got when she first met him, it might have saved her friends. Sakura didn't like walking into things blindly, for all she knew this whole thing could be bigger than just him experimenting on his fellow shinigami but she swallowed up that fear instead using it to drive her forward. She forced down her suspicion and fear and gave him a small smile back; she had to play her part. "Ah, I'm glad I caught up with you, though I suppose it's fukutaichou now." A confused look fell upon her face before she looked over her shoulder to see if Kurotsuchi was still there and wasn't surprised to see that he hadn't even stopped walking. She looked back over to Aizen just as he started talking. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I know you and Urahara-taichou were close. It must be terrible to find out what atrocities he performed." Sakura really had to hand it to him; he was one of the best liars she had ever met. There was almost no way for a normal person to tell if he was lying, but Sakura was no normal person. She crossed her arms to hide her clenched fists, closed her eyes and turned her head from him.

"Thank you for worrying about me." She said weakly and sighed; about to say things she never wanted to say. "... But your right it is terrible. It has made me question all of his motives. Why did he free me? Why would he do that to his fellows? Did he have something planed for me as well? It is increasingly troubling." She paused before speaking the last bit. "Though I suppose I am used to being betrayed." She hated mind games but this man was playing quite a few of his own. He looked at her with sympathy and she put on a shaky smile.

"I understand but know if you ever need a friend to talk to I am here." He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. She smiled a bit wider and nodded.

"Thank you Aizen-fukutaichou, you don't know how much that means to me but I should really get to my division, Kurotsuchi-sa...-taichou is probably waiting for me." He nodded and smiled down at her once more before letting go and turning to walk in the direction he came from. Sakura let out a relieved breath as she started towards the twelfth division. She rubbed her arm trying to comfort herself; she didn't think any of this could have been possible. Sure seireitei was nowhere near perfect but what motive did he have for betraying it? She shook her head and steeled herself as she walked in her division.

Kurotsuchi complained the second she got inside the lab but quickly passed off a bunch of paperwork to her before promptly ignoring her. Sakura took a deep breath, trying to keep her temper from blowing over the top. She was on edge and she didn't think it would go away any time soon. The rest of her day was spent on that horrible paperwork, and once she was finally free she headed straight to her room to collapse on her futon. Though she hadn't done anything remotely physical today she was exhausted and her mind felt strained and split, a feeling she hadn't felt since her inner had gone away, needless to say that was a bad sign. She quickly fell into a restless sleep.

A few days passed and soon Sakura fell into a routine. Things had become much more dull without all her friends so to halt the self-pity she was drowning in she threw herself into her training and research. To her it wasn't really a welcome change but it was a necessary one. Kurotsuchi proved to be a real slave driver now that he was in a position of absolute power over the division and Sakura had to quickly learn how to handle this new side of him, meaning she left him to his work and he left her to hers with the only exceptions being when there was urgent paperwork or whenever he decided to check up the medical research sector to make sure she wasn't slacking off. He did become pushier in his attempts to unravel the secret to her chakra and she usually went along with it only because she knew that even if he found a way to utilize her chakra he couldn't create his own. Chakra was a combination of both physical and spiritual energies so in all honesty even she shouldn't be able to use it as she is dead and technically has no physical form, only a spiritual one. She tried not to question it much but she knew it bothered her new taichou quite a bit.

Weeks passed by and eventually Sakura came out of her little bubble. Once things started to calm down and the twelfth division was once again allowed to wander freely she made sure to strengthen the other bonds she had, which unfortunately included Aizen but even then she grew bored.

Without Yoruichi to drag her into intense spars or equally intense games of tag things just seemed dull around seireitei. It was safe to say that she must have gone insane, that or Yoruichi must have really rubbed off on her, because to quell that boredom she headed straight for the eleventh division. Though she still despised Kiganjo and could probably honestly say that if he died she wouldn't care at all, it didn't change the fact that he was one of the strongest shinigami in all of seireitei. Sakura used his temper and arrogance to her advantage, challenging him to spars(not for the title of Kenpachi). He was still a lazy ass who hated to get up to do anything really but he was a proud lazy ass so he always accepted her challenges. The results of these spars varied on the terms set at the start of each spar but Sakura still hadn't lost once when they fought barehanded, though the first time they fought against each other with their zanpakutos she lost terribly. She was getting stronger at an incredible rate but she still really missed those games of tag.

Wandering aimlessly around seireitei was probably what she could call her new hobby as she found herself doing it quite often. It gave her time to think without being confined to the walls of her new room. Since becoming fukutaichou she also received Hiyori's old room and it was difficult to stay in there without feeling like she was trespassing. Sakura took a deep breath as she walked looking all around her. Her eyes were drawn to a familiar person walking her way. Though she had rarely seen him since their first meeting she couldn't forget someone who so resembled the Uchiha, plus Yoruichi just loved to talk about 'little Byakuya'. He walked stiffly as if agitated and his face was drawn up into a fierce scowl, if Sakura hadn't spent most of her ninja academy years and genin years learning how to read Sasuke she would have thought him angry. She recognized the way he held himself and decided she could use a little entertainment.

"You're bored aren't you?" She asked bluntly, almost laughing out loud at the shock on his face when he realized she was talking to him. He tried to blank his features but he scowl deepened as recognition filled his eyes and he glared. Sakura smiled "She did make things a lot more lively but I didn't think you'd end up this depressed." She chuckled and he snapped.

"Shut up! I don't miss that evil cat!" He yelled. He was funny when he lost his cool and she could now see why Yoruichi found it so much fun to tease him.

"I never said anything about a cat." She replied slyly which only served to anger him more. Sakura smiled glad to see that she wasn't the only one affected by it(in the back of her mind Sui-Feng popped up but the girl had never liked how close she got to Yoruichi in such a short amount of time. Still somewhere in her mind she resolved to go see her too.). Sakura sighed dramatically before lurching forward and doing what Yoruichi had always said she did to goad him into a game of tag. She grabbed his hair tie.

Sakura took off running, not using flash step or her enhanced speed wanting to see the look on his face. She wasn't sure if she had done the right thing but she knew she had to do something, she couldn't just leave him there moping. The dark haired teen stayed frozen for a moment before his body tensed and he used flash step to appear in front of her. Sakura laughed loudly and quickly evaded him with a flash step of her own. She saw him grit his teeth and follow her.

The game lasted at least an hour before she decided to give up. He stopped as well when he saw her slow before coming to a stop. He watched her warily and she smiled warmly, holding out the hair tie to him. He looked at her suspiciously before reaching out and ripping it out of her hand. Sakura giggled and covered her mouth before more came out. Once she composed her self she smiled widely at him.

"Thanks" she said happily and he glared but she ignored him. "We'll have to play tag again sometime." Byakuya's eye twitched and he frowned before speaking.

"Why did you do that?" He demanded and she rolled her eyes at the kid.

"I needed some fun and it looked like you did too!" She exclaimed and saw him fight a smile before he abruptly turned and walked away. "See you later Byakuya-san!" She yelled and waved at his back. He didn't turn around but she knew he heard her. Sakura smiled as she walked in the opposite direction. He may have been annoyed and angry with her when she took his hair thing but she was just glad she could cheer him up. She could see it now; it was the start of a brand new friendship.

I HAVE COME BACK FROM THE DEAD! Firstly I am so so so sorry that this took so long. I could give you all excuse after excuse but I'm sure no one cares so I'll just shut up about that. I know Byakuya is really out of character but this is 100 years ago in a time when his own grandfather called him hotheaded. Personally I think it's perfectly plausible for Byakuya to have missed Yoruichi, well not in a way that he would ever admit, just that she had made herself a part of his life and anyone would be thrown off balance if such a person were to disappear. Eventually, well soon probably, he will come to be the Byakuya we know. And just so you know just because Sakura and him are going to be friends does not mean that will be the final pairing, that is still open to suggestion as it probably will be for a while. I promise that I will have another chapter up in at the most two weeks but who knows it could be up in a few days(I'm in a writing mood). Thank you all so so so much for reading, it means the world to me. Please review!


	9. Chapter 8: Innovation And Excitement

Deep Within The Maggots Nest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.

Chapter 8: Innovation And Excitement

"Y'know you could always take a picture?" A young looking silver haired boy said smiling at the pink haired woman. Sakura snapped out of her thoughts once he spoke and smiled sadly surprising both Gin and Aizen when she next spoke.

"I'm sorry, it's just..." She trailed off before shrugging inwardly deciding it couldn't hurt to tell them, it's not as if they could could use this information against her. She smiled at him. "You remind me greatly of a close friend of mine, from when I was alive I mean." The boys smile widened.

"Oh? How so?" The smile stayed on his young face while Aizen took a sip of his tea looking over at Sakura seemingly surprised about something.

"You don't usually like to talk about your human life." He commented smiling his ever gentle looking smile. Sakura sighed and took a sip of her own tea before responding.

"To tell you the truth I'm not sure you should take that as a complement." She smiled wistfully "Sai was... Hmmm, how do I put it?... Conditioned at a very young age to be completely emotionless. He knew almost nothing of how to socialize with people other than the ones giving him orders and what he did know was only knowledge he acquired from reading books." She looked down at the boy sitting across from her, hyper aware of the man sitting next to her, studying her, and frowned. "He was always smiling, that stupid, transparent fake smile." Her eyes sharpened just a bit. "Just like you." Then she suddenly smiled breaking what would have been an awkward moment. "You know you would be a much cuter kid if you showed your real emotions." She said ironically but he just laughed it off.

"I must admit I am extremely curious about your human life, Sakura-san." Aizen said looking down at her. "It sounds so much different than the human world I have seen." Sakura raised an eyebrow knowing that he would try to take advantage of her sudden sharing mood, and decide to remind him that he was out of luck.

"You must remember that I am a lot older than I look. Not only was I imprisoned for over a thousand years but before that I lived a long time in both Rukongai and Seireitei." She smiled, enjoying playing with him. "I'll assume you're most curious about my people." He nodded looking somewhat sheepish. Sakura smiled a small sad smile, one she didn't even have to fake emotion for. It was still a sore subject but she reminded herself it was for her friends and her new home and for the sake of disappointing Aizen. It was something she had come to enjoy over the years, seeing the slight tightness in his eyes. He always managed to smile it off be she knew she frustrated him. "We were a race of warriors and almost every one of us was raised on conflict. The different nations always seemed to find a reason to fight and when they weren't fighting, criminals always seemed to act up. But then a Great War was started, in which all the nations came together to fight a common enemy." Aizen raised an eyebrow while Gin listened still smiling. "After the war was a time of peace like which no one had ever seen. I left my own village a few years later, I had stopped aging by then and decided that leaving was the best way the protect the friends I had left, there were after all still people out there who would stop at nothing to gain immortality. I didn't see any of my loved ones again until the day I died when one of them killed me." Gin hummed.

"Hmmm, sounds sad." The sympathetic words seemed meaningless when said with such a smile on his face. Sakura lifted her cup to her lips to hide a secretive smile and started once again.

"It doesn't matter anyways." Aizen looked over at her, puzzled.

"Why's that?" He asked.

"For all I know I could have come from a completely different world, different dimension even." She frowned. "And there is absolutely no way back, trust me I've tried and I was thrown in jail for it."

"I see so it is a moot point anyways." His voice had an edge to it. Sakura shook her head and moved to stand.

"Sorry, but I really must get back. I'll see you again next week Aizen-san," he nodded to him before looking at Gin. "It was nice of you to join us Gin-chan" his smile widened as she called him 'Gin-chan', a sign he was annoyed but she ignored it and continued. "You'll have to come by again." The child nodded.

"Gin why don't you walk Sakura-san back to her division." Aizen suggested but both Sakura and Gin knew it was an order. Gin nodded again and stood to stand next to the pink haired woman. She waved as they walked out of the tea house.

Sakura and Gin walked side by side in a comfortable silence. She looked over to the smiling boy and sighed, causing him to glance up at her through slitted eyes. She smiled back at him.

"You don't have to walk me back Gin-chan. Why don't you swing by the tenth division?" She said looking down slyly at him. "I know Rangiku-chan would be happy to see you." He seemed to consider this though his face betrayed nothing and not for the first time she cursed him for only leaving his eyes slightly open, she hated not being able to read his eyes.

"Why not?" He laughed a bit and waved happily. "See you later Sakura-fukutaichou."

Sakura shook her head as she watched him walk away off towards the tenth division. She smiled faintly looking at his back for a second longer before walking off. She hadn't been telling the complete truth when she said the he had reminded her of Sai. There was someone else he reminded her of even more than the emotionless artist, despite the smile on his face.

It had become a tradition to have tea with Aizen once a week. It brought them closer and gave both of them the opportunity to keep an eye on each other, though Sakura hoped he had no idea of her ulterior motives. It so far seemed as though he didn't suspect her but it was always hard to tell with Aizen. Sakura shook her head as she walked and sped up. She wanted to get back to her division quickly, if she didn't someone was bound to stop her causing her to be late which meant some kind of unusual punishment from Kurotsuchi, well, not that he would be able to catch her if he tried to give her any kind of punishment. Though she did have to put up traps all throughout her room just incase he tried to get her while she was asleep.

Kurotsuchi had made some major changes these past years, the biggest being the expansion of the lab. It now had several basement floors and according to his plans there were still many more floors to be built. Not that that was a bad thing, especially because the next one to be built would be for her sector alone. She was actually quite excited, it had become rather cramped in her lab as more and more people transferred in to her sector. It was of course no problem and she really could use all the help she could get so Sakura tended to accept anyone with drive to heal but no real gift at the art of healing.

A sigh escaped her lips as she finally stepped into her, now temporary, lab just barely getting past Kurotsuchi who was too busy to do anything but glare at her. She nodded to her assistants as they all greeted her with a loud cry of 'Good afternoon, Haruno-fukutaichou!' and headed to her desk to start on her paperwork. That was finished in a little more than an hour, paperwork was easy and familiar but still a bother so she tended to complete it as quickly as possible so after a quick trip to Kurotsuchi's office to drop it all off she started on the real work.

The project she was working on now was actually Kurotsuchi's idea. He had asked her if her chakra would still keep a shape if not in contact with her body and for this question she had no answer. Since that day though she started on what would have been the biggest medical innovation that the shinobi world had seen since Tsunade's own medical jutsu: a chakra bandage. It was literally a thin sheet of her medical chakra incased in a specially made sleeve that could be applied to a wound in the field. In theory it would, once applied to a wound, drain the chakra into the wounded person's body to heal surface wounds. It couldn't heal any internal damage but it would stop anyone from bleeding to death in battle. The problem was that she had yet to figure out how to get it to react to a wound with out applying the bandage herself, she assumed it had to do something with chakra and not her.

Sakura worked late into the night before finally retiring to her room for the night. She woke up early the next morning and after another visit to her inner world through meditation she was off to the training grounds for her morning routine. A few hours later she stretched as she left the training grounds. She knew she was still far away from bankai but she felt confident enough in her abilities as she was not bound only to shinigami technics. After a few hours in her lab she headed out of her division once again, this time towards the second division. Sui-feng had been angry, very angry, at first then bitter and then determined. She vowed to surpass Yoruichi and practically demanded Sakura train with her. Sakura had agreed hesitantly, this after all sounded a bit to much like revenge for her and she didn't want to get involved in anything close to that. She found though, that she enjoyed training Sui-feng, although she wasn't as fast as Yoruichi she might reach that level some day and Sakura was simply happy to have yet another distraction to keep her from becoming complacent. Secretly though she felt bad for the girl, Sakura knew Yoruichi well enough to know that she wouldn't just be sitting around and that even with all of Sui-feng's training she might never be able to match up to Yoruichi. So after a rather drawn out spar Sakura left the second division in search of lunch. Once her stomach was full she then headed to the shinigami academy where she taught an optional class on basic healing. She had been surprised to find that students didn't learn anything beyond basic first aid and none learned any healing kido until they were actually inducted into the Gotei 13. Even then the only ones who learned advanced healing were the ones brought into the fourth division. She felt it was a gross oversight to not train advanced field medics and had resolved to at least make some kind of difference. Her schedule was, admittedly, packed but it didn't bother her much, she had been a known workaholic in her human life as well.

It was the middle of the afternoon when her class ended and she was walking back to her division when someone she vaguely recognized as an unseated member of the eleventh division barreled into her. She locked herself upright as the man fell to the ground. He looked up and froze in fear for a second before stuttering out an apology.

"H-Haruno-fukutaichou!" He squeaked fearfully in an unmanly voice and Sakura inwardly rolled her eyes. She had made quite the reputation in the eleventh division and it had become rather common for the unseated members and even a few of the seated ones to respectfully avoid her after seeing what she could do to their captain. The man got off the floor and bowed to her. "I'm so sorry Haruno-fukutaichou but I have to get to my division now." He made to run but Sakura grabbed his arm before he could bolt.

"What's going on?" She asked in her most authoritative voice.

"A-all eleventh division members are being called back to the division. Taichou has a challenger." Her eyes widened and she let go of the man's arm. He quickly bowed again before running off. An excited grin appeared on Sakura's face and she turned on her heel and pushed off into a run, not noticing the small crater she left in her wake. She surpassed the man from before and quite a few more eleventh division members as she ran. Although life was rarely boring in Seireitei it was also rarely exciting and she just had a feeling that this would be pretty entertaining. Barely two minutes had passed before she found herself in front of the eleventh division. She slowed her pace to a walk and stepped inside, her grin never leaving her face.

I'm such a bad author!-sob- But here is another chapter, finally. And the next chapter(which I've already written half of) is the long awaited Kenpachi meeting! Well I'm excited about it, at least. Anybody got anything special they would like to see in the next chapter? Sorry again, I hope I can be forgiven. Anyways, as always, thank you so much for reading and please, please review!


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